i 


BUREAU   OF    EDUCATION. 
BULLETIN  No.  1,  1889. 


DIAIST  EDUCATION, 


BY 


GENERAL    T.    J.    MOROAN, 

COMMISSIONER  OF  INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 


WASHINGTON : 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 

1890. 


BUREAU    OF    EDUCATION 
BULLETIN  No.  1,  1889. 


INDIAN   EDUCATION, 


BY 


GENERAL    T.   J.    MORGAN, 

COMMISSIONER  OF  INDIAN  AFFAIRS. 


WASHINGTON-: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 

1890. 


Bancroft 


EDUCATION. 


INTRODUCTION. 

In  presenting  to  the  correspondents  of  this  Bureau  this  reprint  of  a 
report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  I  hope  to  furnish  matter  of 
a  high  degree  of  interest.  It  is  my  belief  that  the  well-wishers  for  the 
Indian  have  reasons  to  rejoice  at  the  prospect  before  them  of  a  humane 
settlement  of  the  long  pending  question.  A  century  of  ineffective  ef- 
fort to  civilize  the  Indian,  instead  of  discouraging  the  missionary  spirit 
of  our  nation,  has  had  the  effect  of  continually  increasing  its  fervor.  It 
has  become  clear  that  earlier  endeavors  failed  because  they  were  not 
radical  enough.  In  the  early  history  of  the  colonies,  it  was  believed 
that  the  ethnical  difference  between  the  white  man  and  the  Indian  is  a 
superficial  one,  one  easily  eradicated  by  a  little  book  education,  or  by 
religious  conversion  unaided  by  other  agencies.  Modern  studies  in 
ethnology  have  made  us  acquainted  with  the  depth  to  which  the  dis- 
tinctions of  civilization  penetrate.  We  do  not  now  expect  to  work  the 
regeneration  of  a  people  except  by  changing  the  industrial  habits,  the 
manners  and  customs,  the  food  and  clothing,  the  social  and  family  be- 
havior, the  view  of  the  world,  and  the  religious  conviction  systemat- 
ically and  co-ordinately. 

The  adoption  of  changes  in  industry  and  the  fashion  of  clothing  and 
drink  does  not  signify  very  much  without  the  adoption  of  enlightened 
views  and  religious  convictions  corresponding.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
attempt  to  grasp  new  religious  convictions,  those  of  Christianity,  with- 
out the  simultaneous  adoption  of  the  minor  habits  is  not  likely  to  pro- 
duce a  full  and  permanent  regeneration.  It  is  understood  that  the 
habits  of  life,  the  social  and  industrial  organization  of  society,  offer 
a  symbol  of  the  deeper  ideas  formulated  in  the  religion  of  the  people- 
Even  Christianity  becomes  quite  a  different  religion  when  professed  by 
lower  races  clinging  to  a  social  form  of  life  not  founded  on  productive 
industry.  In  a  country  whose  social  system  is  founded  on  caste  it  va- 
ries from  the  form  of  religion  existing  in  a  community  with  a  dem- 
ocratic form  of  government  and  with  a  system  of  free  productive  in- 
dustry. 


4 

On  this  account  the  new  education  for  our  American  Indians  as  it 
has  been  founded  in  recent  years  by  devoted  men  and  women,  under- 
takes to  solve  the  problem  of  civilizing  them  by  a  radical  system  of 
education  not  merely  in  books,  nor  merely  in  religious  ceremonies,  but 
in  matters  of  clothing,  personal  cleanliness,  matters  of  dietary,  and 
especially  in  habits  of  industry. 

To  work  out  this  thorough  system  in  all  its  details,  it  is  found  nec- 
essary, or  at  least  desirable,  to  obtain  control  of  the  Indian  at  an  early 
age,  and  to  seclude  him  as  much  as  possible  from  the  tribal  influence. 
The  boarding-school  has  thus  far  been  quite  effectual  in  forming  new 
habifs  and  new  wants  and  desires  in  the  pupil.  It  has  kindled  in  him 
aspirations  which  would  permanently  transform  him  if  he  lived  in  an 
environment  of  civilization.  But  it  has  been  found  that  when  the  pu- 
pils return  from  their  boarding  schools  to  their  native  tribes  on  the 
borders  that  they  often  succumbed  to  the  influences  of  the  old  environ- 
ment. They  are  not  strong  enough  to  withstand  the  aggregate  influ- 
ence of  old  and  young  men  and  women  who  have  retained  the  old 
forms  and  who  look  upon  innovation  as  idle  and  useless,  not  to  say 
sacrilegious. 

It  is  evident  that  the  only  remedy  for  this  defect  is  to  be  found  in  the 
course  recommended  by  General  Morgan  in  the  report  herewith  pre- 
sented. The  Indian  youth  must  be  educated  en  masse.  They  must  be 
educated  in  the  thorough  manner  of  the  boarding-school,  and  they  must 
all  be  educated,  so  that  the  environment  of  each  individual  shall  be  fa- 
vorable to  his  persistence  in  the  habits  formed  at  school. 

It  is  evident,  moreover,  that  the  protraction  of  the  period  of  school 
education  is  a  very  important  item,  especially  at  the  beginning  of  this 
experiment.  One  year  or  two  years,  or  even  three  years  of  school  edu- 
cation, is  not  so  economical  as  five  years  or  ten  years  of  school  training. 
Because  the  short  period  of  school  training  will  make  little  impression 
on  the  form  of  tribal  life — it  will  not  tend  to  change  the  patriarchal  life 
to  a  form  of  a  society  founded  on  productive  industry.  And  while  the 
patriarchal  or  tribal  form  exists  our  own  civilization  must  protect  itself 
from  the  dangers  which  menace  it  from  that  lower  form  of  civilization 
by  supporting  military  forces  or  an  armed  police  on  the  tribal  frontiers. 
This  looks  towards  a  continual  heavy  expense,  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
towards  the  cruel  policy  of  extermination. 

Again,  as  to  the  matter  of  economy,  the  recommendations  of  General 
Morgan  to  establish  high  school  and  college  instruction  are,  in  my 
opinion,  quite  wise.     At  first  glance  they  seem  to  recommend  an  ex-  i 
travagant  outlay  of  money,  but  I  am  persuaded  that  this  extravagance  j 
is  only  seeming  and  not  real.     It  will  be  found  that  very  few  Indian  ] 
children  will  show  a  sufficient  capacity  to  complete  the  primary  course 
of  instruction  before  the  age  of  16  or  17  years,  and  there  will  not  remain 
sufficient  time  before  mature  life  to  take  up  secondary  and  higher  in-  j 
struction.    This  is  the  case,  indeed,even  with  our  children  of  European  1 


5 

descent.     Only  four  in  one  hundred  take  up  secondary  instruction,  and 
only  one  in  one  hundred  take  up  higher  instruction. 

It  will  be  safe  to  use  all  influences  to  encourage  Indian  youth  to  enter 
high  school  and  college  courses.  All  who  undertake  this  will  fit  them- 
selves for  directive  power  among  their  people  at  home,  and  will  power- 
fully aid  in  civilizing  their  fellows.  From  the  higher  educated  persons 
will  naturally  come  the  chieftains,  and  in  general  the  men  who  make 
combinations  and  manage  work  that  requires  systematic  co-ordination. 
Even  if  the  chieftains  are  selected  from  men  naturally  gifted  with  direc- 
tive power  over  their  fellow-men,  they  will  necessarily  employ  as  coun- 
selors, as  personal  aids,  as  clerks,  and  business  agents  the  educated 
among  their  followers.  And  these  educated  agents  will  create  the  forms 
of  doing  and  acting,  and  thereby  effectually  furnish  the  directive  power. 

Brought  before  the  bar  of  the  awakened  conscience  of  the  great  mass 
of  the  American  people,  there  can  be  but  one  verdict  possible  regarding 
the  system  proposed  by  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs.  We  owe 
it  to  ourselves  and  to  the  enlightened  public  opinion  of  the  world  to 
save  the  Indian,  and  not  destroy  him.  We  can  not  save  him  and  his 
patriarchal  or  tribal  institution  both  together.  To  save  him  we  must 
take  him  up  into  our  form  of  civilization.  We  must  approach  him  in 
the  missionary  spirit  and  we  must  supplement  missionary  action  by  the 
aid  of  the  civil  arm  of  the  State.  We  must  establish  compulsory  edu- 
cation for  the  good  of  the  lower  race. 

This  being  granted,  it  follows  that  the  only  efficient  system  is  substan- 
tially the  same  as  that  recommended  in  the  report  herewith  presented. 

W.  T.  HARRIS, 
Commissioner  of  Education. 


SUPPLEMENTAL  REPORT  ON  INDIAN  EDUCATION. 

I  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR, 

OFFICE  OF  INDIAN  AFFAIRS, 

Washington,  December  1,  1889. 

SIR  :  I  respectfully  submit  herewith,  a  supplement  to  the  foregoing 
report,  in  which  I  have  outlined  a  plan  for  Indian  education.  When 
the  regular  annual  report  of  this  office  was  submitted,  I  had  not  at  hand 
the  data  necessary  for  formulating  such  a  plan  and  hence  could  not 
present  it  at  that  time.  This  plan,  of  course,  is  subject  to  modifications, 
as  experience  may  show  them  to  be  desirable. 
Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

T.  J.  MORGAN, 

Commissioner. 

The  SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 


A  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION  FOR  INDIANS. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES. 

The  American  Indians,  not  including  the  so-called  Indians  of  Alaska, 
are  supposed  to  number  about  250,000,  and  to  have  a  school  population 
(six  to  sixteen  years)  of  perhaps  50,000.  If  we  exclude  the  five  civilized 
tribes  which  provide  for  the  education  of  their  own  children  and  the 
New  York  Indians,  who  are  provided  for  by  that  State,  the  number  of 
Indians  of  school  age  to  be  educated  by  the  Government  does  not  ex- 
ceed 36,000,  of  whom  15,000  were  enrolled  in  schools  last  year,  leaving 
but  21,000  to  be  provided  with  school  privileges. 

These  people  are  separated  into  numerous  tribes,  and  differ  very 
widely  in  their  language,  religion,  native  characteristics,  and  modes  of 
life.  Some  are  very  ignorant  and  degraded,  living  an  indolent  and 
brutish  sort  of  life,  while  others  have  attained  to  a  high  degree  of  civ- 


8 

ilization,  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  their  white  neighbors.  Any  gen- 
eralizations regarding  these  people  must,  therefore,  be  considered  as 
applicable  to  any  particular  tribe  with  such  modifications  as  its  peculiar 
place  in  the  scale  of  civilization  warrants.  It  is  certainly  true,  how- 
ever, that  as  a  mass  the  Indians  are  far  below  the  whites  of  this  coun- 
try in  their  general  intelligence  and  mode  of  living.  They  enjoy  very 
few  of  the  comforts,  and  almost  none  of  the  luxuries,  which  are  the 
pride  and  boast  of  their  more  fortunate  neighbors. 

When  we  speak  of  the  education  of  the  Indians,  we  mean  that  com- 
prehensive system  of  training  and  instruction  which  will  convert  them 
into  American  citizens,  put  within  their  reach  the  blessings  which  the 
rest  of  us  enjoy,  and  enable  them  to  compete  successfully  with  the  white 
man  on  his  own  ground  and  with  his  own  methods.  Education  is  to  be 
the  medium  through  which  the  rising  generation  of  Indians  are  to  be 
brought  into  fraternal  and  harmonious  relationship  with  their  white 
fellow-citizens,  and  with  them  enjoy  the  sweets  of  refined  homes,  the 
delight  of  social  intercourse,  the  emoluments  of  commerce  and  trade, 
the  advantages  of  travel,  together  with  the  pleasures  that  come  from 
iterature,  science,  and  philosophy,  and  the  solace  and  stimulus  afforded 
by  a  true  religion. 

That  such  a  great  revolution  for  these  people  is  possible  is  becoming 
more  and  more  evident  to  those  who  have  watched  with  an  intelligent 
interest  the  work  which,  notwithstanding  all  its  hindrances  and  dis- 
couragements, has  been  accomplished  for  them  during  the  last  few 
years.  It  is  no  longer  doubtful  that,  under  a  wise  system  of  education, 
carefully  administered,  the  condition  of  this  whole  people  can  be  radi- 
cally improved  in  a  single  generation. 

Under  the  peculiar  relations  which  the  Indians  sustain  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United*  States,  the  responsibility  for  their  education 
rests  primarily  and  almost  wholly  upon  the  nation.  This  grave  respon- 
sibility, which  has  now  been  practically  assumed  by  the  Government, 
must  be  borne  by  it  alone.  It  can  not  safely  or  honorably  either  shirk 
it  or  delegate  it  to  any  other  party.  The  task  is  not  by  any  means  an 
herculean  one.  The  entire  Indian  school  population  is  less  than  that  of 
Rhode  Island.  The  Government  of  the  United  -States,  now  one  of  the 
richest  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  with  an  overflowing  Treasury,  has  at 
its  command  unlimited  means,  and  can  undertake  and  complete  this 
work  without  feeling  it  to  be  in  any  degree  a  burden.  Although  very 
imperfect  in  its  details,  and  needing  to  be  modified  and  improved  in 
many  particulars,  the  present  system  of  schools  is  capable,  under  wise 
direction,  of  accomplishing  all  that  can  be  desired. 

In  order  that  the  Government  shall  be  able  to  secure  the  best  results 
in  the  education  of  the  Indians,  certain  things  are  desirable,  indeed,  I 
might  say  necessary,  viz : 

First.  Ample  provision  should  be  made  at  an  early  day  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  the  entire  mass  of  Indian  school  children  and  youth. 


To  resist  successfully  and  overcome  the  tremendous  downward  pressure 
of  inherited  prejudice  and  the  stubborn  conservatism  of  centuries,  noth- 
ing less  than  universal  education  should  be  attempted. 

Second.  Whatever  steps  are  necessary  should  be  taken  to  place  these 
children  under  proper  educational  influences.  If,  under  any  circum- 
stances, compulsory  education  is  justifiable,  it  certainly  is  in  this  case. 
Education,  in  the  broad  sense  in  which  it  is  here  used,  is  the  Indians 
only  salvation.  With  it  they  will  become  honorable,  useful,  happy  citi- 
zens of  a  great  republic,  sharing  on  equal  terras  in  all  its  blessings. 
Without  it  they  are  doomed  either  to  destruction  or  to  hopeless  degra- 
dation. 

Third.  The  work  of  Indian  education  should  be  completely  system- 
atized. The  camp  schools,  agency  boarding  schools,  and  the  great  in- 
dustrial schools  should  be  related  to  each  other  so  as  to  form  a  con- 
nected and  complete  whole.  So  far  as  possible  there  should  be  a  uni- 
form course  of  study,  similar  methods  of  instruction,  the  same  text- 
books, and  a  carefully  organized  and  well-understood  system  of  indus- 
trial training. 

Fourth.  The  system  should  be  conformed,  so  far  as  practicable,  to  the 
common-school  system  now  universally  adopted  in  all  the  States.  It 
should  be  non-partisan,  non-sectarian.  The  teachers  and  employe's 
should  be  appointed  only  after  the  most  rigid  scrutiny  into  their  quali- 
fications for  their  work.  They  should  have  a  stable  tenure  of  office, 
being  removed  only  for  cause.  They  should  receive  for  their  service 
wages  corresponding  to  those  paid  for  similar  service  in  the  public 
schools.  They  should  be  carefully  inspected  and  supervised  by  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  properly  qualified  superintendents. 

Fifth.  While,  for  the  present,  special  stress  should  be  laid  upon  that 
kind  of  industrial  training  which  will  fit  the  Indians  to  earn  an  honest 
living  in  the  various  occupations  which  may  be  open  to  them,  ample  pro- 
vision should  also  be  made  for  that  general  literary  culture  which  the 
experience  of  the  white  race  has  shown  to  be  the  very  essence  of  educa- 
tion. Especial  attention  should  be  directed  toward  giving  them  a  ready 
command  of  the  English  language.  To  this  end,  only  English  should 
be  allowed  to  be  spoken,  and  only  English-speaking  teachers  should 
be  employed  in  schools  supported  wholly  or  in  part  by  the  Government. 

Sixth.  The  scheme  should  make  ample  provision  for  the  higher  edu- 
cation of  the  few  who  are  endowed  with  special  capacity  or  ambition,, 
and  are  destined  to  leadership.  There  is  an  imperative  necessity  for 
this,  if  the  Indians  are  to  be  assimilated  into  the  national  life. 

Seventh.  That  which  is  fundamental  in  all  this  is  the  recognition  of 
the  complete  manhood  of  the  Indians,  their  individuality,  their  right  to 
be  recognized  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  with  the  same  rights 
and  privileges  which  we  accord  to  any  other  class  of  people.  They 
should  be  fre'e  to  make  for  themselves  homes  wherever  they  will.  The 
reservation  system  is  an  anachronism  which  has  no  place  in  our  modern 


10 

civilization.  The  Indian  youth  should  be  instructed  in  their  rights, 
privileges,  and  duties  as  American  citizens  ;  should  be  taught  to  love 
the  American  flag ;  should  be  imbued  with  a  genuine  patriotism,  and 
made  to  feel  that  the  United  States,  and  not  some  paltry  reservation,  is 
their  home.  Those  charged  with  their  education  should  constantly 
strive  to  awaken  in  them  a  sense  of  independence,  self-reliance,  and 
self-respect. 

Eighth.  Those  educated  in  the  Targe  industrial  boarding-schools 
should  not  be  returned  to  the  camps  against  their  will,  but  should  be 
not  only  allowed,  but  encouraged  to  choose  their  own  vocations,  and 
contend  for  the  prizes  of  life  wherever  the  opportunities  are  most  favor- 
able. Education  should  seek  the  disintegration  of  the  tribes,  and  not 
their  segregation.  They  should  be  educated,  not  as  Indians,  but  as 
Americans.  In  short,  the  public  school  should  do  for  them  what  it  is 
so  successfully  doing  for  all  the  other  races  in  this  country,  assimilate 
them. 

Ninth.  The  work  of  education  should  begin  with  them  while  they  are 
young  and  susceptible,  and  should  continue  until  habits  of  industry  and 
love  of  learning  have  taken  the  place  of  indolence  and  indifference. 
One  of  the  chief  defects  which  have  heretofore  characterized  the  efforts 
made  for  their  education  has  been  the  failure  to  carry  them  far  enough, 
so  that  they  might  compete  successfully  with  the  white  youth,  who  have 
enjoyed  the  far  greater  advantages  of  our  own  system  of  education. 
Higher  education  is  even  more  essential  to  them  than  it  is  for  white 
children. 

Tenth.  Special  pains  should  be  taken  to  bring  together  in  the  large 
boarding-schools  members  of  as  many  different  tribes  as  possible,  in 
order  to  destroy  the  tribal  antagonism  and  to  generate  in  them  a  feel- 
ing of  common  brotherhood  and  mutual  respect.  Wherever  practicable, 
they  should  be  admitted  on  terms  of  equality  into  the  public  schools, 
where,  by  daily  contact  with  white  children,  they  may  learn  to  respect 
them  and  become  respected  in  turn.  Indeed,  it  is  reasonable  to  expect 
that  at  no  distant  day,  when  the  Indians  shall  have  all  taken  up  their 
lands  in  severalty  and  have  become  American  citizens,  there  will  cease 
to  be  any  necessity  for  Indian  schools  maintained  by  the  Government. 
The  Indians,  where  it  is  impracticable  for  them  to  unite  with  their  white 
neighbors,  will  maintain  their  own  schools. 

Eleventh.  Co-education  of  the  sexes  is  the  surest  and  perhaps  only 
way  in  which  the  Indian  women  can  be  lifted  out  of  that  position  of 
servility  and  degradation  which  most  of  them  now  occupy,  on  to  a  plane 
where  their  husbands  and  the  men  generally  will  treat  them  with  the 
same  gallantry  and  respect  which  is  accorded  to  their  more  favored  white 
sisters. 

Twelfth.  The  happy  results  already  achieved  at  Carlisle,  Hampton, 
and  elsewhere,  by  the  so-called  "  outing  system,"  wuich  consists  in 
placing  Indian  pupils  in  white  familes  where  they  are  taught  the  ordi- 


11 

nary  routine  of  housekeeping,  farming,  etc.,  and  are  brought  into  inti- 
mate relationship  with  the  highest  type  of  American  rural  life,  suggests 
the  wisdom  of  a  large  extension  of  the  system.  By  this  means  they 
acquire  habits  of  industry,  a  practical  acquaintance  with  civilized  life, 
a  sense  of  independence,  enthusiasm  for  home,  and  the  practical  ability 
to  earn  their  own  living.  This  system  has  in  it  the  "  promise  and  the 
potency"  of  their  complete  emancipation. 

Thirteenth.  Of  course,  it  is  to  be  understood  that,  in  addition  to  all 
of  the  work  here  outlined  as  belonging  to  the  Government  for  the 
education  and  civilization  of  the  Indians,  there  will  be  requisite  the 
influence  of  the  home,  the  Sabbath-school,  the  church,  and  religious 
institutions  of  learning.  There  will  be  urgent  need  of  consecrated  mis- 
sionary work  and  liberal  expenditure  of  money  on  the  part  of  individ- 
uals and  religious  organizations  in  behalf  of  these  people.  Christian 
schools  and  colleges  have  already  been  established  for  them  by  mis- 
sionary zeal,  and  others  will  doubtless  follow.  But  just  as  the  work  of 
the  public  schools  is  supplemented  in  the  States  by  Christian  agencies, 
so  will  the  work  of  Indian  education  by  the  Government  be  supple- 
mented by  the  same  agencies.  There  need  be  no  conflict  and  no  un- 
seemly rivalry.  The  Indians,  like  any  other  class  of  citizens,  will  be 
free  to  patronize  those  schools  which  they  believe  to  be  best  adapted 
to  their  purpose. 

HIGH   SCHOOLS. 

There  are.  at  present  three  general  classes  or  kinds  of  Government 
schools — the  so-called  industrial  training  school,  the  reservation  board- 
ing-school, and  the  camp  or  day  school.  There  is  for  these  schools  no 
established  course  of  study,  no  order  of  exercises.  The  teachers  do  as 
the  Israelites  did  in  the  days  of  the  judges — "  each  one  that  which  seems 
right  in  his  own  eyes."  The  schools  sustain  no  necessary  relation  to 
each  other.  There  is  no  system  of  promotion  or  of  transfer  from  one 
school  to  another  One  of  the  most  obvious  needs  of  the  hour  is  to  mark 
out  clearly  the  work  of  the  schools  and  to  bring  the  different  grades 
into  organic  relationship. 

Assuming  that  the  Government  should  furnish  to  the  Indian  children, 
who  look  directly  to  it  for  preparation  for  citizenship,  an  education  equiv- 
alent to  that  provided  by  the  several  States  for  the  children  under  their 
care,  the  problem  is  greatly  simplified.  The  high  school  is  now  almost 
universally  recognized  as  an  essential  part  of  the  common-school  system. 
There  are  in  operation  in  the  United  States  about  1,200  of  them,  with 
an  enrollment  of  120,000.  These  "people's  colleges"  are  found  every- 
where, in  cities,  towns,  villages,  and  country  places  from  Maine  to 
Oregon.  Colorado  and  other  new  States  rival  Massachusetts  and  other 
New  England  communities  in  the  munificence  of  their  provision  for 


12 

high-school  education  of  their  youth.  A  high-school  education  at  pub- 
lic expense  is  now  offered  to  the  great  mass  of  youth  of  every  race  and 
condition  except  the  Indian.  The  foreigner  has  the  same  privilege  as 
those  "  native  and  to  the  manor  born."  The  poor  man's  child  has  an 
equal  chance  with  the  children  of  the  rich.  Even  the  negroes  of  the 
South  have  free  entrance  to  these  beneficent  institutions.  The  Gov- 
ernment, for  its  own  protection  and  for  the  sake  of  its  own  honor, 
should  offer  to  the  Indian  boys  and  girls  a  fair  opportunity  to  equip 
themselves  as  well  for  citizenship  and  the  struggle  for  life  that  citizen- 
ship brings,  as  the  average  boys  and  girls  of  the  other  races  with  whom 
they  must  compete. 

What  then  should  an  Indian  high  school  be  ?  The  answer  is  at  hand. 
An  Indian  high  school  should  be  substantially  what  any  other  high 
school  should  be.  It  should  aim  to  do  four  things: 

First.  The  chief  thing  in  all  education  is  the  development  of  character, 
the  formation  of  manhood  and  womanhood.  To  this  end  the  whole 
course  of  training  should  be  fairly  saturated  with  moral  ideas,  fear  of 
God,  and  respect  for  the  rights  of  others  ;  love  of  truth  and  fidelity  to 
duty  ;  personal  purity,  philanthropy,  and  patriotism.  Self-respect  and 
independence  are  cardinal  virtues,  and  aie  indispensable  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  privileges  of  freedom  and  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
American  citizenship.  The  Indian  high  schools  should  be  schools  for 
the  calling  into  exercise  of  those  noble  traits  of  character  which  are 
common  to  humanity  and  are  shared  by  the  red  children  of  the  forest 
and  plain  as  well  as  by  the  children  of  the  white  man. 

Second.  Another  great  aim  of  the  high  school  is  to  put  the  student 
into  right  relations  with  the  age  in  which  he  lives.  Every  intelligent 
human  being  needs  to  have  command  of  his  own  powers,  to  be  able  to 
observe,  read,  think,  act.  He  has  use  for  an  acquaintance  with  the  ele- 
ments of  natural  science,  history,  literature,  mathematics,  civics,  and  a 
fair  mastery  of  his  own  language,  such  as  comes  from  rhetoric,  logic,  and 
prolonged  practice  in  English  composition. 

The  Indian  needs,  especially,  that  liberalizing  influence  of  the  high 
school  which  breaks  the  shackles  of  his  tribal  provincialism,  brings 
him  into  sympathetic  relationship  with  all  that  is  good  in  society  and 
in  history,  and  awakens  aspirations  after  a  full  participation  in  the  best 
fruits  of  modern  civilization. 

The  high  school  should  lift  the  Indian  students  on  to  so  high  a  plane 
of  thought  and  aspiration  as  to  render  the  life  of  the  camp  intolerable 
to  them.  If  they  return  to  the  reservations,  it  should  be  to  carve  out 
for  themselves  a  home,  and  to  lead  their  friends  and  neighbors  to  a  bet- 
ter mode  of  living.  Their  training  should  be  so  thorough,  and  their 
characters  so  formed,  that  they  will  not  be  dragged  down  by  the  hea- 
thenish life  of  the  camp.  The  Indian  high  school  rightly  conducted  will 
be  a  gateway  out  from  the  desolation  of  the  reservation  into  assimila- 
tion with  our  national  life.  It  should  awaken  the  aspiration  fora  home 


13 

civilized  people,  and  offer  such  an  equipment  as  will  make  the 
desire  prophetic  of  fulfillment. 

Third.  The  high  school,  which  standing  at  the  apex  of  the  common- 
school  system  and  offering  all  that  the  mass  of  youth  of  any  class  can 
receive,  offers  to  the  few  ambitious  and  aspiring  a  preparation  for  uni- 
versity culture.  The  high  school,  even  in  some  of  the  newer  States, 
prepares  for  college  those  who  have  special  aptitudes  and  lofty  ambi- 
tion. 

Several  Indian  boys  have  already  pursued  a  college  course  and  others 
are  in  course  of  preparation.  There  is  an  urgent  need  among  them  for 
a  class  of  leaders  of  thought,  lawyers,  physicians,  preachers,  teachers, 
editors,  statesmen,  and  men  of  letters.  Very  few  Indian  boys  and  girls, 
perhaps,  will  desire  a  college  education,  but  those  few  will  be  of  im- 
mense advantage  to  their  fellows.  There  is  in  the  Indian  the  same  di- 
versity of  endowment  and  the  same  high  order  of  talent  that  the  other 
races  possess,  and  it  waits  only  the  touch  of  culture  and  the  favoring 
opportunity  for  exercise  to  manifest  itself.  Properly  educated,  the 
Indians  will  constitute  a  valuable  and  worthy  element  in  our  cosmopol- 
itan nationality.  The  Indian  high  school  should  offer  an  opportunity 
for  the  few  to  rise  to  any  station  for  which  nature  has  endowed  them, 
and  should  remove  the  reproach  of  injustice  in  withholding  from  the 
Indian  what  is  so  freely  offered  to  all  others. 

Fourth.  Owing  to  the  peculiar  surroundings  of  the  mass  of  Indian 
children,  they  are  homeless  and  are  ignorant  of  those  simplest  arts  that 
make  home  possible.  Accordingly  the  Indian  high  school  must  be  a 
boarding  and  industrial  school,  where  the  students  can  be  trained  in 
the  homely  duties  and  become  inured  to  that  toil  which  is  the  basis  ot 
health,  happiness,  and  prosperity.  It  should  give  especial  prominence, 
as  is  now  done  in  the  best  industrial  schools  for  white  youth,  to  instruc- 
tion in  the  structure,  care,  and  use  of  machinery.  Without  machinery 
the  Indians  will  be  hopeless  and  helpless  in  the  industrial  competition 
of  modern  life. 

The  pupils  should  also  be  initiated  into  the  laws  of  the  great  natural 
forces,  heat,  electricity,  etc.,  in  their  application  to  the  arts  and  appli- 
ances of  civilized  life. 

The  course  of  study  should  extend  over  a  period  of  five  years,  in  order 
that  there  may  be  time  for  the  industrial  work,  and  opportunity  for  a 
review  of  the  common  branches,  arithmetic,  grammar,  and  geography 
Special  stress  should  be  laid  upon  thoroughness  of  work,  so  that  the 
students  may  not  be  at  a  disadvantage  when  thrown  into  competition 
with  students  of  like  grade  in  similar  schools  for  other  children. 

The  plant  for  each  institution  should  inelurle  necessary  buildings  for 
dormitories,  school-rooms,  laboratories,  shops,  hospital,  gymnasium,  etc., 
with  needed  apparatus  and  library,  and  an  ample  quantity  of  good 
farming  laud,  with  the  necessary  buildiugs,  stock,  and  machinery. 


14 

The  schools  should  be  located  in  the  midst  of  a  farming  community, 
remote  from  reservations,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  railroads  and  some 
thriving  village  or  city.  The  students  would  thus  be  free  fi  om  the  great 
downpull  of  the  camp,  and  be  able  to  mingle  with  the  civilized  people 
that  surround  them,  and  to  participate  in  their  civilization. 

The  teachers  should  be  selected  with  special  reference  to  their  adap- 
tation to  the  work,  should  receive  a  compensation  equivalent  to  that 
paid  for  like  service  in  white  schools  of  same  grade,  and  should  have 
a  stable  tenure  of  office. 

The  number  of  these  schools  that  will  be  ultimate^  required  can  not 
be  determined  accurately  without  more  experience.  The  number  of 
pupils  who  can  be  profitably  educated  in  high  schools  is  not  large,  but 
is  growing  larger  year  by  year.  It  may  be  best  for  the  present  to 
develop  a  high-school  department  in  say  three  schools.  Those  at  Car- 
lisle, Pa.,  Lawrence,  Kans.,  and  Chemawa  (near  Salem),  Oregon,  can 
readily  do  so.  Indeed,  high-school  classes  have  already  been  formed 
and  are  now  at  work.  In  the  future  the  schools  at  Genoa,  Nebr.,  and 
Grand  Junction,  Colo.,  can  be  added  to  the  others,  making  a  group  of 
five  high  schools,  admirably  located  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  great 
body  of  Indians.  Their  graduates  will  supply  a  body  of  trained  men 
and  women  competent  for  leadership. 

The  cost  of  maintaining  these  schools  will  depend  upon  thfe  number 
of  pupils  provided  for.  One  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  per  cap- 
ita, the  sum  now  paid  at  several  places,  will  probably  be  ample.  For 
the  year  ending  June  30, 1889,  the  sum  of  $80,000  was  appropriated  for 
Carlisle,  and  $85,000  for  Haskell  Institute.  It  would  be  easy  to  carry 
into  successful  operation  the  plan  here  outlined  by  an  annual  outlay  of 
$100,000  for  each  school,  which  is  a  very  small  advance  over  the  pres- 
ent appropriation. 

GRAMMAR   SCHOOLS. 

As  the  large  mass  of  Indian  youth  who  are  to  be  educated  will  never 
get  beyond  the  grammar  grade,  special  pains  should  be  taken  to  make 
these  schools  as  efficient  as  possible.  The  studies  should  be  such  as 
are  ordinarily  pursued  in  similar  white  schools,  with  such  modifications 
as  experience  may  suggest. 

Among  the  points  that  may  properly  receive  special  attention  are  the 
following: 

(1)  The  schools  should  be  organized  and  conducted  in  such  a  way  as 
to  accustom  the  pupils  to  systematic  habits.     The  periods  of  rising  and 
retiring,  the  hours  for  meals,  times  for  study,  recitation,  work  and  play 
should  all  be  fixed  and  adhered  to  with   great  punctiliousness.     The 
irregularities  of  camp  life,  which  is  the  type  of  all  tribal  life,  should 
give  way  to  the  methodical  regularity  of  daily  routine. 

(2)  The  routine  of  the  school  should  tend  to  develop  habits  of  self- 


15 

directed  toil,  either  with  brain  or  hand,  in  profitable  labor  or  useful 
study.  The  pupils  must  be  taught  the  marvelous  secret  of  diligence. 
The  consciousness  of  power  springing  from  the  experience  of  "  bringing 
things  to  pass"  by  their  own  efforts  is  often  the  beginning  of  a  new 
career  of  earnest  endeavor  and  worthy  attainment.  When  the  Indian 
children  shall  have  acquired  a  taste  for  study  and  a  love  for  work  the 
day  of  their  redemption  will  be  at  hand. 

During  the  grammar  period  of  say  five  years,  from  ten  to  fifteen,  much 
can  be  accomplished  in  giving  to  the  girls  a  fair  knowledge  of  and  prac- 
tical experience  in  all  common  household  duties,  such  as  cooking,  sew- 
ing, laundry  work,  etc.,  and  the  boys  may  acquire  an  acquaintance  with 
farming,  gardening,  care  of  stock,  etc.  Much  can  be  done  to  familiarize 
them  with  the  use  of  tools,  and  they  can  learn  something  of  the  prac- 
tical work  of  trades,  such  as  tailoring,  shoe-making,  etc.  Labor  should 
cease  to  be  repulsive,  and  come  to  be  regarded  as  honorable  and  at- 
tractive. The  homely  virtue  of  economy  should  be  emphasized.  Pupils 
should  be  taught  to  make  the  most  of  everything,  and  to  save  whatever 
can  be  of  use.  Waste  is  wicked.  The  farm  should  be  made  to  yield 
all  that  it  is  capable  of  producing,  and  the  children  should  be  instructed 
and  employed  in  the  care  of  poultry,  bees,  etc.,  and  in  utilizing  to  the 
utmost  whatever  is  supplied  by  the  benevolence  of  the  Government  or 
furnished  by  the  bounties  of  nature.. 

(3)  All  the  appointments  and  employments  of  the  school  should  be 
such  as  to  render  the  children  familiar  with  the  forms  and  usages  of 
civilized  life.     Personal  cleanliness,  care  of  health,  politeness,  and  a 
spirit  of  mutual  helpfulness  should  be  inculcate^.     School-rooms  should 
be  supplied  with  pictures  of  civilized  life,  so  that  all  their  associations 
will  be  agreeable  and  attractive.     The  games  and  sports  should  be  such 
as  white  children  engage  in,  and  the  pupils  should  be  rendered  familiar 
with  the  songs  and  music  that  make  our  home  life  so  dear.     It  is  dur- 
ing this  period  particularly  that  it  will  be  possible  to  inculcate  in  the 
minds  of  pupils  of  both  sexes  that  mutual  respect  that  lies  at  the  base 
of  a  happy  home  life,  and  of  social  purity.     Much  can  be  done  to  fix  the 
current  of  their  thoughts  in  right  channels  by  having  them  memorize 
choice  maxims  and  literary  gems,  in  which  inspiring  thoughts  and 
noble  sentiments  are  embodied. 

(4)  It  is  of  prime  importance  that  a  fervent  patriotism  should  be 
awakened  in  their  minds.     The  stars  and  stripes  should  be  a  familiar 
object  in  every  Indian  school,  national  hymns  should  be  sung,  and  pa- 
triotic selections  be  read  and  recited.    They  should  be  taught  to  ^look 
upon  America  as  their  home  and  upon  the  United  States  Government 
as  their  friend  and  benefactor.    They  should  be  made  familiar  with  the 
lives  of  great  and  good  men  and  women  in  American  history,  and  be 
taught  to  feel  a  pride  in  all  their  great  achievements.    They  should  hear 
little  or  nothing  of  the  "wrongs  of  the  Indians,"  and  of  the  injustice  of 
the  white  race.     If  their  unhappy  history  is  alluded  to  it  should  be  to- 


16 

•contrast  it  with  the  better  future  that  is  within  their  grasp.  The  new 
era  that  has  come  to  the  red  men  through  the  munificent  scheme  of 
education,  devised  for  and  offered  to  them,  should  be  the  means  of 
a. wakening  loyalty  to  the  Government,  gratitude  to  the  nation,  and 
hopefulness  for  themselves. 

Everything  should  be  done  to  arouse  the  feeling  that  they  are  Ameri- 
cans having  common  rights  and  privileges  with  their  fellows.  It  is  more 
profitable  to  instruct  them  as  to  their  duties  and  obligations,  than  as  to 
their  wrongs.  One  of  the  prime  elements  in  their  education  should  be  a 
knowledge  of  the  Constitution  and  Government  under  which  they  live. 
The  meaning  of  elections,  the  significance  of  the  ballot,  the  rule  of  the 
majority,  trial  by  jury — all  should  be  explained  to  them  in  a  familiar  way. 

(5)  A  simple  system  of  wage-earning,  accompanied  by  a  plan  of  sav- 
ings, with  debit  and  credit  scrupulously  kept,  will  go  far  to  wards  teach- 
ing the  true  value  of  money,  and  the  formation  of  habits  of  thrift,  which 
are  the  beginnings  of  prosperity  and  wealth.     Every  pupil  should  know 
something  of  the  ordinary  forms  of  business,  and  be  familiar  with  all  the 
common  standards  of  weights  and  measures. 

(6)  No  pains  should  be  spared  to  teach  them  that  their  future  must 
depend  chiefly  upon  their  own  exertions,  character,  and    endeavors. 
They  will  be  entitled  to  what  they  earn.     In  the  sweat  of  their  faces 
must  they  eat  bread.    They  must  stand  or  fall  as  men  and  women,  not 
as  Indians.     Society  will  recognize  in  them  whatever  is  good  and  true, 
and  they  have  no  right  to  ask  for  more.     If  they  persist  in  remaining 
savages  the  world  will  treat  them  as  such,  and  justly  so.     Their  only 
hope  of  good  treatment  is  in  deserving  it.    They  must  win  their  way 
in  life  just  as  other  people  do,  by  hard  work,  virtuous  conduct,  and 
thrift.    Nothing  can  save  them  from  the  necessity  of  toil,  and  they 
should  be  inured  to  it  as  at  the  same  time  a  stern  condition  of  success 
in  life's  struggle,  and  as  one  of  life's  privileges  that  brings  with  it  its 
own  reward. 

(7)  All  this  will  be  of  little  worth  without  a  higher  order  of  moral 
training.    The  whole  atmosphere  of  the  school  should  be  of  the  high- 
est character.     Precept   and   example  should  combine  to  mold  then 
characters  into  right  conformity  to  the  highest  attainable  standard* 
The  school  itself  should  be  an  illustration  of  the  superiority  of  th< 
Christian  civilization. 

The  plant  required  for  a  grammar  school  should  include  suitable  dor- 
mitories, school  buildings,  and  shops,  and  a  farm  with  all  needed  ap- 
pointments. 

The  cost  of  maintaining  it  will  be  approximately  $175  per  capita  pei 
annum. 

The  final  number  and  location  of  these  schools  can  be  ascertained 
after  a  more  thorough  inspection  of  the  whole  field.  At  present  th< 
schools  at  Chilocco,  in  the  Indian  Territory ;  Albuquerque,  N.  Mex. 
Grand  Junction,  Colo. ;  and  Genoa,  Nebr.,  might  be  organized  as  gram- 


17 

inar  schools.  The  completion  of  the  buildings  now  in  course  of  erec- 
tion at  Pierre,  S.  Dak. ;  Carson,  Nev. ;  and  Santa  Fe\  N.  Mex.;  will  add 
three  more  to  the  list.  It  will  doubtless  be  possible  at  no  distant  day 
to  organize  grammar  school  departments  in  not  less  than  twenty-five 
schools. 

PRIMARY   SCHOOLS. 

The  foundation  work  of  Indian  education  must  be  in  the  primary 
schools.  They  must  to  a  large  degree  supply,  so  far  as  practicable,  the 
lack  of  home  training.  Among  the  special  points  to  be  considered  in 
connection  with  them,  are : 

(1)  Children  should  be  taken  at  as  earty  an  age  as  possible,  before 
camp  life  has  made  an  indelible  stamp  upon  them.     The  earlier  they 
can  be  brought  under  the  beneficent  influences  of  a  home  school,  the 
more  certain  will  the  current  of  their  young  lives  set  in  the  right 
direction. 

(2)  This  will  necessitate  locating  these  schools  not  too  far  away  from 
the  parents,  so  that  they  can  occasionally  visit  their  little  children, 
and  more  frequently  hear  from  them  and  know  of  their  welfare  and 
happiness. 

(3)  The  instruction  should  be  largely  oral  and  objective,  and  in  the 
highest  degree  simplified.     Those  who  teach  should  be  from  among 
those  who  have  paid  special  attention  to  kindergarten  culture  and  pri- 
mary methods  of  instruction.     Music  should  have  prominence,  and  the 
most  tireless  attention  should  be  given  to  training  in  manners  and  mor- 
als.    No  pains  should  be  spared  to  insure  accuracy  and  fluency  in  the 
use  of  idiomatic  English. 

(4)  The  care  of  the  children  should  correspond  more  to  that  given  in 
a  "Children's  Home"  than  to  that  of  an  ordinary  school.     The  games 
and  employments  must  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  little  children. 

The  final  number  and  location  of  these  schools  can  not  yet  be  fixed. 
Probably  fifty  will  meet  the  demands  of  the  near  future.  Many  of  the 
reservation  boarding  schools  now  in  operation  can  be  converted  into 
primary  schools. 

DAY   SCHOOLS.* 

The  circle  of  Government  schools  will  be  completed  by  the  establish- 
ment of  a  sufficient  number  of  day  schools  to  accommodate  all  whom, 
it  is  not  practicable  to  educate  in  boarding  schools. 

It  is  believed  that  by  providing  a  home  for  a  white  family,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  day  school,  each  such  school  would  become  an  impressive 


*  Since  these  paragraphs  ou  clay  schools  were  written,  1  have  been  gratified  to  learn 
that  the  plan  thus  outlined  substantially  agrees  with  that  set  forth  by  the  late  Super- 
intendent of  Indian  Schools,  J.  M.  Haworth,  in  his  annual  report,  dated  September 
25,  1883,  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract: 

"The  semi-boarding  and  industrial  school  referred  to  was  recommended  in  my  re- 
port of  October  last,  and  is  repeated  here  with  renewed  recommendations  for  its 

1  OS2O7  O 


18 

object  lesson  to  the  Indians  of  the  white  man's  mode  of  living.  The 
man  might  give  instruction  in  farming,  gardening,  etc.,  the  woman  in 
cooking,  and  other  domestic  matters,  while  a  regular  teacher  could  per- 
form the  usual  school-room  duties. 

Pupils  from  these  schools  could  be  promoted  and  transferred  to  the 
higher  institutions. 

These  day  schools  and  reservation  boarding  schools  are  an  absolutely 
necessary  condition  of  the  successful  work  which  is  to  be  done  in  the 
grammar  and  high  schools  not  on  reservations.  They  will  help  to  edu- 
cate the  older  Indians  and  will  tend  so  to  alter  the  environment  and 
to  improve  the  public  sentiment  that  when  pupils  return  from  board- 
ing schools,  as  many  will  and  must,  they  will  find  sympathy  and  sup 
port  in  their  civilized  aspirations  and  efforts. 

The  scheme  thus  outlined  of  high,  grammar,  primary,  and  day  school 
work  is  necessarily  subject  to  such  modifications  and  adaptations  as  the 
varying  circumstances  of  the  Indian  school  service  demand.  The  main 
point  insisted  upon  is  the  need  of  formulating  a  system  and  of  putting 
it  at  once  into  operation,  so  that  every  officer  and  employ  6  may  have  be- 
fore him  an  ideal  of  endeavor,  and  so  that  there  may  be  the  most  eco- 
nomical use  of  the  means  devoted  to  Indian  education. 

A  beginning  has  already  been  made,  and  a  few  years  of  intelligent 
work  will  reduce  to  successful  practice  what  now  is  presented  in  theory. 

adoption  at  some  of  the  agencies  where  best  adapted.  It  should  consist  of  a  four- 
room  building,  providing  for  home  comforts  for  a  man  and  wife  and  a  teacher,  also  a 
echool-room  accommodating  50  children.  A  midday  meal  should  be  provided  for  the 
school  by  regular  details  of  girls,  under  the  direction  of  the  matron,  who  should  also 
visit  the  homes  of  the  Indians  living  in  that  neighborhood,  and  instruct  the  women 
in  household  duties.  The  man  should  have  charge  of  the  outside  work,  including 
farming  and  the  care  of  stock,  in  which  he  should  instruct  the  boys  of  the  school; 
he  should  also  give  instruction  to  the  Indians  of  the  neighborhood  in  the  same 
branches ;  the  teacher  to  have  charge  of  the  children  during  school  hours. 

"  It  is  estimated  that  the  cost  of  the  building,  utilizing  such  Indian  help  as  can  be 
done  to  advantage,  will  not  average  over  $2,000,  and  the  cost  of  conducting  the 
school,  including  the  pay  of  three  persons  and  necessary  provision  for  a  midday  meal, 
will  not  exceed  $3,500.  Of  course  this  provision  at  agencies  where  rations  are  issued 
can  be  taken  from  the  regular  supplies  without  much  additional  cost.  This  plan  it 
is  believed  will  take  the  place  of  additional  boarding-schools  at  agencies  where  the 
present  facilities  are  much  too  small  to  accommodate  the  school  population.  Twenty 
new  buildings  of  this  character  are  recommended  for  construction,  to  be  divided 
among  the  Sioux,  Navajo,  Kiowa  and  Comanche,  Cheyenne  and  Arapaho,  Mexican 
Kickapoo,  Ute  and  Crow  Indians." 


19 


TEACHERS. 

Teaching  in  Indian  schools  is  particularly  arduous.  In  all  boarding 
schools  the  employes  are  necessarily  on  duty  for  a  much  greater  length 
of  time  for  each  day,  and  for  more  days,  than  is  required  of  teachers  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  country.  The  training  of  Indian  pupils  devolves 
almost  wholly  upon  the  teachers,  whose  work  is  not  supplemented  and 
reinforced  by  the  family,  the  church,  and  society.  The  difficulty  of 
teaching  pupils  whose  native  language  is  so  strange  as  that  spoken  by 
the  major  portion  of  Indian  pupils  adds  largely  to  the  work. 

In  reservation  schools  the  teacher  is  far  removed  from  the  comforts 
of  home  and  the  pleasures  of  society,  and  is  largely  deprived  of  associa- 
tion with  congenial  companions.  The  furnishings  of  the  teachers'  quar- 
ters and  the  school  buildings  are  primitive,  and  the  table  frugal,  unless 
it  is  made  expensive.  The  schools  are  often  located  at  a  great  distance 
from  the  teacher's  home,  involving  a  long  and  expensive  journey.  The 
surroundings  are  not  restful. 

To  compensate  for  these  disadvantages,  the  Government,  in  order  to 
command  good  talent,  ought  to  offer  a  fair  compensation,  never  less 
than  that  paid  by  the  surrounding  communities  for  similar  service,  and 
should  afford  opportunity  for  promotion,  and  offer  a  reasonably  fixed 
tenure  of  office. 

The  positions  should  be  opened  to  all  applicants  on  equal  terms,  and 
should  be  awarded  on  the  basis  of  merit.  Special  stress  should  belaid 
upon  : 

(1)  Good  health.    The  privations  of  the  lonely  life  and  the  peculiar 
difficulties  of  the  work  will  necessarily  make  a  heavy  draft  upon  the 
teacher's  vital  energies. 

(2)  None  but  those  of  the  most  excellent  moral  character  and  of 
good  repute  should  be  sent  as  teachers  to  those  who  will  be  more  influ- 
enced by  the  example  of  their  teachers  than  by  their  instruction. 

(3)  Faith  in  the  Indian's  capacity  for  education  and  an  enthusiasm 
for  his  improvement  are  needful  for  the  highest  success  in  teaching. 

(4)  An  acquaintance  with  the  best  modern  methods  of  instruction 
and  familiarity  with  the  practical  workings  of  the  best  public  schools, 
will  be  of  immense  advantage  in  a  work  beset  with  so  many  difficul- 
ties. 

(5.)  A  mastery  of  idiomatic  English  is  particularly  essential  to  those 
who  have  the  difficult  task  of  breaking  up  the  use  of  Indian  dialects 
and  the  substitution  therefor  of  the  English  language. 

(f>)  Teachers  should  be  selected  for  special  grades  of  work.  Some 
are  specially  fitted  to  excel  in  primary  work,  while  others  are  better 
adapted  to  the  work  of  higher  grades. 

(7)  A  quality  greatly  to  be  desired  is  the  power  of  adapting  oneself 
to  new  and  trying  surroundings,  and  of  bearing  with  fortitude  the  hard- 
ships and  discouragements  incident  to  the  service. 


20 


SCHOOL  SUPERVISION. 

There  is  at  present  one  Superintendent  of  Indian  Scbools,  charged 
with  the  duty  of  visiting  them  and  reporting  on  their  condition.  A 
glance  at  any  map  of  the  United  States  showing  the  location  of  the  In- 
dians, reveals  at  once  the  physical  impossibility  of  any  adequate  super- 
vision by  one  man. 

The  Superintendent  should  have  at  least  five  principal  assistants, 
school  experts,  who,  under  his  direction,  shall  give  their  entire  time  to 
the  supervision  of  schools  in  their  respective  fields. 

Some  such  plan  as  that  herein  set  forth  seems  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  preparation  of  the  rising  generation  of  Indian  youth  for  absorp- 
tion into  our  national  life.  Enough  has  been  already  accomplished  to 
show  that  the  scheme  is  entirely  feasible.  The  Government  has  ample 
means  at  its  disposal.  The  treaty  and  trust  funds  held  fur  the  Indians 
would  meet  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  necessary  outlay. 

The  same  care  devoted  to  the  training  of  young  Indians  for  citizen- 
ship now  bestowed  upon  educating  officers  for  the  Army  and  Navy 
would  accomplish  results  equally  striking. 

The  same  liberality 'and  care  on  the  part  of  the  Government  for  the 
proper  education  of  its  wards  that  is  shown  by  the  several  States  in 
maintaining  a  system  of  public  schools  would  be  followed  by  like  re- 
sults. 

Nothing  less  than  this  is  worthy  of  this  great  nation  of  00,000,000 
people.  Such  a  plan  successfully  inaugurated  would  mark  the  begin- 
ning of  a  century  of  honor. 

COST   OF   CARRYING    OUT   A    SYSTEM   OF    INDIAN   EDUCATION. 

In  attempting  to  carry  into  execution  the  plan  already  outlined  for 
the  education  of  all  accessible  Indian  youth  of  school  age,  it  is  desirable 
to  know,  approximately  at  least,  what  the  annual  and  the  ultimate  cost 
will  be.  Accordingly,  in  a  series  of  tables  herewith  submitted,  the  at- 
tempt has  been  made  to  reach  as  nearly  accurate  a  conclusion  on  this  ' 
matter  as  the  present  condition  of  Indian  school  statistics  will  admit. 

As  is  well  known,  there  has  never  been  an  absolutely  reliable  census 
of  the  Indians  made,  or  even  attempted;  but  it  is  thought  that  the  fig- 
ures given  in  Table  1  are  sufficiently  accurate  to  form  at  least  a  basis 
of  calculations. 

TABLE  1. — Population  and  school  population,  1888-'89. 

Total  Indian  population 250,  430 

Five  civilized  tribes 65,  200 

New  York  Indians 5,  04ri 

70, 246 

Remainder  under  care  of  Government 180, 184 

School  population  (six  to  sixteen),  20  per  cent,  of  population  . 3(>,  000 

Possible  enrollment  (estimated),  75  per  cent,  of  school  population.  ..  27,000 

Average  attendance,  80  per  cent,  of  enrollment. 21,600          \ 

Needed  capacity,  90  per  cent,  of  enrollment 24, 300 


21 

The  school  period  assumed  (six  to  sixteen  years)  is  taken  simply  as  a 
standard  of  comparison.  In  some  cases  it  will  be  desirable,  where 
school  facilities  can  be  provided,  to  receive  Indian  children  into  home 
or  kindergarten  schools  much  earlier  than  six  years  of  age ;  and  doubt- 
less for  some  years  to  come  it  will  also  be  desirable  to  have  Indian 
youth  who  are  strong  in  body  and  susceptible  of  culture  continue  in 
school  beyond  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  How  much  the  number  of  In- 
dian school  pupils  will  be  modified  by  these  considerations  is  simply  a 
matter  of  conjecture. 

Twenty  per  cent,  has  been  assumed  as  the  relative  proportion  of  In- 
dian youth  from  six  to  sixteen  years  of  age,  as  compared  with  the  total 
population.  This  percentage  may  not  be  exact.  The  proportion  of 
youth  from  six  to  sixteen  years  of  age  to  the  total  population  of  the 
United  States  is  23j  per  cent.,  according  to  the  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Education,  Hon.  W.  T.  Harris.  Whether  this  would  be  a 
more  accurate  standard  of  comparison  for  the  Indians  can  not  now  be 
determined. 

The  percentages  of  enrollment  and  average  attendance  are  based, 
so  far  as  knowledge  of  the  past  experince  in  Indian  education  will 
warrant,  upon  records  in  the  Indian  Office.  They  are  necessarily 
somewhat  elastic.  But  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  it  is  reasonable  for  the 
Government  to  at  least  attempt  to  secure  the  enrollment  and  average 
indicated  in  Table  1.  Certainly  nothing  less  than  this  should  be  at- 
tempted, and  if  future  experience  will  warrant  it,  it  will  be  a  very  simple 
matter  to  extend  the  estimates  to  make  them  commensurate  with  the 
increased  attendance  which  may  be  secured. 

Bancroft  , 

TABLE  2. — Present  school  accommodations. 

Pupils. 

Government  boarding-schools 7, 145 

Government  day  schools 3,083 

New  boarding-schools  (1890) 445 


Total 10,673 

Table  2,  which  exhibits  the  present  accommodations  provided  in  Gov- 
ernment schools,  shows  that  provision  has  been  made  for  over  10,000 
pupils.  Regarding  this  it  should  be  said  that  in  many  cases,  if  the  at- 
tendance at  the  school  should  equal  the  capacity  given,  the  pupils  would 
be  very  uncomfortable  and  in  some  cases  their  health  would  be  endan- 
gered. Most  of  the  Government  school  buildings  now  in  existence,  in 
order  to  accommodate  properly  the  number  of  pupils  indicated  as  the 
capacity  of  the  buildings,  would  need  extensive  repairs  and  added  fa- 
cilities in  the  way  of  shops,  hospitals,  dormitories,  bath-rooms,  laun- 
dries, etc. 

By  an  arbitrary  assumption  it  is  proposed  to  provide  for  17,000  pupils 
in  Government  boarding-school  buildings,  and  for  7,300  pupils  in  Gov- 
ernment day-school  buildings.  How  far  this  proportion  may  prove  to 


22 

be  practicable  and  desirable  can  be  determined  only  by  experience;  but 
from  present  knowledge  it  is  thought  to  be  entirely  safe  to  assume  that 
proportion  as  the  basis  of  calculation. 

In  estimating  the  cost  of  the  needed  boarding  accommodations  the 
cost  of  the  buildings  provided  for  Haskell  Institute  at  Lawrence,  Kans., 
has  been  taken  as  a  standard. 

Owing  to  the  very  great  difficulties  by  which  the  work  of  extending 
school  facilities  is  hedged  about,  it  is  at  present  regarded  as  inexpedient 
to  attempt  to  make  provision  during  the  next  fiscal  year  for  the  accom- 
modation of  more  than  one- fourth  of  the  Indian  jouth  now  unprovided 
for  in  Government  school  buildings.  If  it  shall  be  found  practicable  to 
advance  the  work  more  rapidly  than  that,  a  larger  effort  may  be  put 
forth  the  second  year. 

TABLE  3. — Estimated  cost  of  school  accommodations. 

Pupils  for  whom  boarding  accommodations  are  needed 17, 000 

Pupils  for  whom  boarding  accommodations  are  provided  by  the 

Government 7, 590 

Pupils  for  whom  boarding  accommodations  should  be  provided 9,  410 

Pupils  for  whom  boarding  accommodations  should  be  provided  in 

one  year  (one-fourth  the  pupils  unprovided  for) 2, 352 

Pupils  for  whom  day  accommodations  are  needed 7, 300 

Pupils  for  whom  day  accommodations  are  provided  by  the  Govern- 
ment   - 3, 083 

Pupils  for  whom  day  accommodations  should  be  provided  by  the 

Government 4, 217 

Pupils  for  whom  day  accommodations  should  be  provided  by  the 
Government  in  one  year  (one-fourth  the  pupils  unprovided  for). .  1, 054 

New  buildings,  and  additions  to  old  buildings,  and  furnish  ings  for 
2,352  boarders,  at  $230  per  capita $540, 960 

New  buildings  and  additions  to  old  buildings,  and  furnishings  for 
1,054  day  pupils,  at  $1,500  for  every  30  pupils  (including  teachers' 
residence) 52,500 

Repairs  and  improvements  of  present  buildings  (estimated) 50, 000 


Total  for  buildings 643,460 

According  to  Table  3,  the  Government  should  expend  next  year  a 
sum  of  not  less  than  $643,000  in  adding  to  the  accommodations  of 
Government  school  buildings.  This  is  a  very  small  sum  to  be  ex- 
pended by  the  United  States  Government  for  such  a  purpose.  It  is 
only  a  little  more  than  double  the  amount  paid  by  the  citizens  of 
Omaha  for  their  high-school  building,  and  scarcely  more  than  enough 
to  build  two  such  grammar  schools  as  are  the  boast  of  the  city  of 
Providence,  R.  I.,  and  about  oue-half  the  sum  that  was  spent  in  building 
the  Providence  City  Hall.  It  is  estimated  that  the  Government  build- 
ing at  San  Francisco,  will  cost  not  less  than-  $1,000,000,  and  with  that 
understanding  Congress  has  already  appropriated  $800,000  to  purchase 


23 

the  site  upon  which  the  building  will  be  placed.  The  Government 
building  at  Omaha  will  cost,  with  its  site,  $1,200,000,  and  the  building 
and  site  at  Milwaukee  will  cost  the  same  amount.  For  coast-defense 
guns  of  one  kind  there  was  appropriated  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1889,  $1,500,000. 

Congress  last  year  appropriated  for  new  school  buildings,  furniture 
and  sites  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  $3 11,792  5  and  the  year  preced- 
ing $315,000  was  voted  for  new  buildings. 

TABLE  4. — Estimated  cost  of  support  of  pupils,  1890-'91. 

GOVERNMENT  SCHOOLS. 

Boarding-schools : 

Average  attendance  to  be  secured 15, 000 

Present  average  attendance 5, 212 


Difference 9,788 

Increased  average  to  be  supported  next  year  (one-fourth  above 

difference) 2,447 

Total  average  which  should  be  supported  next  year 7,659 

Day  schools : 

Average  attendance  to  be  secured 6,600 

Present  average  attendance 1,744 


Difference 4,856 

Increased  average  to  be  supported  next  year  (one-fourth  above 

difference) 1,214 

Total  average  which  should  be  supported  next  year 2, 958 


Support  of  7,659  boarders,  at  $175  per  capita $1,340,325 

Support  of  2,958  day  pupils,  at  $62.50  per  capita 184,875 


1,525,200 

CONTRACT  SCHOOLS.* 

Allowances  for  1889-'90  (4,622  boarding  pupils,  895  day  pupils). ..       561, 950 


Total „    $2, 087,150 

In  estimating  the  cost  of  supporting  the  schools  for  the  next  fiscal 
year,  $175,  the  largest  sum  now  paid  per  capita  in  Government  train- 
ing schools,  is  assumed  as  the  standard,  and  it  is  thought  that  this  is 
a  fair  estimate  of  the  average  cost.  The  cost  per  capita  for  such  day 
schools  as  are  now  contemplated  is  more  a  matter  of  conjecture  ;  but  it 
is  thought  that  the  sums  assumed  will  be  found  not  far  out  of  the  way. 
This  gives  a  total  for  the  cost  of  maintaining  schools  for  the  education 
of  16,134  pupils  during  the  next  year  as  little  more  than  $2,000,000.  - 

*  This  includes  all  schools  not  under  control  of  the  Indian  Bureau  which  receive 
Government  aid. 


24 

TABLE  5. — Appropriations  required  for  next  year  (1890-'91). 

GOVERNMENT  SCHOOLS. 

Erecting  and  furnishing  boarding-school  buildings $540,960 

Erecting  and  furnishing  day-school  buildings 52, 500 

Repairs  and  improvements  on  present  buildings 50,  000 

Additional  furniture,  apparatus,  stock,  tools,  and  implements...  50,000 

Supporting  7,659  boarding  scholars 1,340,325 

Supporting  2,958  day  scholars 184,  875 

Transportation  of  pupils 40,  000 

Superintendence 25,000 


2,283,660 

CONTRACT   SCHOOLS. 

Allowances  for  1889-'90  (4,622  boarding  pupils,  895  day  pupils) ..       $561, 950 


To  house  and  support  in  Government  schools  next  year,  pupils 
now  attending  those  schools  plus  one-fourth  of  the  youth  not 
now  provided  for  in  Government  schools  (plus  allowance  for 
contract  schools,  1889-'90)  would  cost 2, 845, 610 

Appropriations  for  Indian  schools  for  fiscal  year  1889-'90 1, 364, 568 


Increased  appropriation  required  for  support  of  schools,  1890-'91.     1, 481, 042 

The  total  appropriations  required  for  the  year  1890-'91,  as  shown  by 
Table  5,  is  estimated  as  $2,845,610. 

When  comparing  the  cost  of  educating  Indians  by  the  Government 
with  the  cost  of  common-school  education  as  carried  on  by  the  States, 
it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  from  the  nature  of  the  case  the  Gov- 
ernment plan  includes  the  very  considerable  items  of  board,  clothing, 
transportation,  and  industrial  training.  The  school  expenses  proper, 
exclusive  of  board,  clothing,  transportation,  and  industrial  work,  will 
probably  not  exceed  the  average  cost  of  like  work  in  the  public 
schools.  To  offset  the  cost  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  Gov- 
ernment already  provides  for  clothing  and  rations  for  a  large  number 
of  Indians,  and  that  it  costs  no  more  to  clothe  and  feed  the  young 
in  school  than  in  camp,  except  that  they  are  better  fed  and  clothed 
in  school  than  in  camp. 

It  should  also  be  remembered  that  the  Government  is  under  .positive 
treaty  obligations  with  a  large  body  of  Indians  to  furnish  them  suitable 
education.  It  is  still  further  significant  that  the  Indians  are  now  show- 
ing a  disposition  to  take  their  lands  in  severalty,  to  dispose  of  the  sur- 
plus lauds  for  a  fair  consideration,  and  to  invest  a  very  considerable 
portion  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  thereof  in  education ;  so  that  a 
very  large  proportion  of  the  cost  of  Indian  education  administered  by 
the  Government  will  be  borne  willingly  and  cheerfully  by  the  Indians 
themselves  and  not  by  the  people  of  the  United  States.  But  even  if 
the  people  of  the  United  States  were  to  assume  the  whole  burden  of 
Indian  education,  it  would  be  a  burden  very  easily  borne,  and  would  be 


25 

but  a  slight  compensation  to  be  returned  by  this  vast  and  rich  nation 
to  the  original  possessors  of  the  soil  upon  whose  lands  the  nation  with 
its  untold  wealth  now  lives. 

TABLE  6. — Amount  required  to  put  and  support  all  Indian  children  in  Government 

Schools  next  year. 

New  buildings  and  fuinishings  for  9,410  boarders,  at  $'230  per 

capita: $2,164,300 

New  buildings  and  furnishings  for  4,217  day  pupils,  at  $1,500  for 

every  30  pupils 210, 000 

Repair  and  improvement  of  present  buildings 50,  000 

Additional  furniture,  apparatus,  stock,  tools,  and  implements  . . .          50, 000 

2, 474, 300 

Support  of  an  average  of  15,000  boarding  pupils,  at  $175  $2, 625, 000 
Support  of  an  average  of  6,600  day  pupils,  at  $62.50..         412, 500 

Transportation  of  pupils 40,  000 

Superintendence 25,000 

3,102,500 


Total $5, 576, 800 

By  an  inspection  of  Table  6,  the  grand  aggregate  of  expenditures 
which  it  is  thought  would  be  necessary  to  provide  ample  accommoda- 
tions in  Government  buildings  for  all  Indian  youth  of  school  age  is 
$2,474,300. 

Compare  this  sum  with  the  cost  of  constructing  ordinary  war  ships. 
By  special  act  of  Coogress,  approved  September  7,  1888,  the  President 
was  authorized  to  have  constructed  by  contract  two  steel  cruisers  of 
about  3,000  tons  displacement  each,  at  a  cost  (exclusive  of  armament 
and  excluding  any  premiums  that  may  be  paid  for  increased  speed),  of 
not  more  than  $1,100,000  each;  one  steel  cruiser  of  about  5,300  tons 
displacement,  to  cost  $1,800,000;  one  armored  cruiser,  of  about  7,500 
tons  displacement,  to  cost,  exclusive  of  armament  and  premiums,  $3,500,- 
000 ;  three  gun-boats  or  cruisers,  of  not  to  exceed  2,000  tons  displace- 
ment, each  to  cost  not  more  than  $700,000.  The  appropriation  for  con- 
struction and  steam-machinery  for  these  vessels  was  $3,500,000  addi- 
tional. The  armament  involves  $2,000,000  more,  making,  in  all,  over 
$15,000,000  for  six  naval  vessels. 

The  Dolphin,  one  of  the  smallest  of  the  fleet,  consumes  annually  $35,000 
worth  of  coal — a  sum  which  would  clothe,  feed,  and  train  in  useful  in- 
dustries during  that  period  200  Indian  youth. 

By  further  reference  to  Table  6,  it  will  be  se«en  that  the  estimated 
amount  which  will  be  required  annually  for  the  maintenance  of  a  Gov- 
ernment system  of  education  for  all  Indians  will  amount  to  $3,102,500. 
Of  course,  in  addition  to  this,  an  expenditure  will  have  to  be  made  each 
year  to  repair  and  otherwise  keep  in  good  order  the  various  school  build 
ings  and  furnishings. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  well  to  note  that  the  sum  paid  for  education 
by  the  city  of  Boston  amounts  to  $  1,700,000 ;  by  the  State  of  New  York 


26 

more  than  $16,000,000  annually  ;  while  the  cost  of  the  maintenance  of 
the  public-school  system  of  the  States  and  Territories  of  this  country  as 
a  whole,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  is 
more  than  $115,000,000.  The  United  States  pays  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  little  army  of  about  25,000  men  nearly  $25,000,000  annually ;  the 
appropriation  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1889,  aggregated 
$24,574,700. 

In  estimating  the  cost  of  maintaining  an  adequate  school  system  for 
the  Indians  two  great  economical  facts  should  steadily  be  borne  in 
mind.  The  first  is  that  by  this  system  of  public  education  the  Indian 
will,  at  no  distant  day,  be  prepared  not  only  for  self-support,  but  also 
to  take  his  place  as  a  productive  element  in  our  social  economy.  The 
pupils  at  the  Carlisle  Indian  Training  School  earned  last  year  by  their 
labors  among  the  Pennsylvania  farmers  more  than  $10,000,  and  this 
year  more  than  $12,000.  From  "facts  like  these  it  can  easily  be  demon- 
strated that,  simply  as  a  matter  of  investment,  the  nation  can  afford  to 
pay  the  amount  required  for  Indian  education,  with  a  view  of  having  it 
speedily  returned  to  the  aggregate  of  national  wealth  by  the  increased 
productive  capacity  of  the  youth  who  are  to  be  educated. 

The  second  great  economical  fact  is  that  the  lands  known  as  Indian 
reservations  now  set  apart  by  the  Government  for  Indian  occupancy 
aggregate  nearly  190,000  square  miles.  This  land,  for  the  most  part, 
is  uncultivated  and  unproductive.  When  the  Indians  shall  have  been 
properly  educated  they  will  utilize  a  sufficient  quantity  of  those  lands 
for  their  own  support  and  will  release  the  remainder  that  it  may  be 
restored  to  the  public  domain  to  become  the  foundation  for  innumer- 
able happy  homes ;  and  thus  will  be  added  to  the  national  wealth  im- 
mense tracts  of  farming  land  and  vast  mineral  resources  which  will 
repay  the  nation  more  than  one  hundred  fold  for  the  amount  which  it 
is  proposed  shall  be  expended  in  Indian  education. 

TABLE  7. — Annual  appropriations  made  "by  the  Government  since  1876  for  support  of 

Indian  schools. 


Year. 

Appropri- 
ation. 

Per  cent,  of 
increase. 

Year. 

Appropri- 
ation. 

Per  cent,  of 
increase. 

1876 

$20  000 

1884 

992  800 

47 

1877 

30  000 

50 

1885 

1  100  065 

10 

1878  

60,  000 

100 

1886     

1  211  415 

10 

1879 

75  000 

25 

1887 

1  179  916 

*02  6 

1880...  .       

75  000 

1888 

1  348  015 

14 

1881 

135  000 

SO 

1889 

1  364  568 

01 

1882  .  . 

487  200 

260 

1890  (amount  required) 

2'  845  610 

110 

1883  

675,  200 

38 

Decrease. 


From  an  inspection  of  Table  7  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Government 
entered  upon  the  present  plan  of  educating  Indians  in  1876,  by  the  ap- 


27 

propriation  of  $20,000  for  that  purpose ;  and  that  for  a  period  of  eight 
years  there  was  an  almost  steady  increase  in  the  appropriations  for  In- 
dian education,  amounting  to  an  average  of  75  per  cent,  per  annum. 
For  the  next  five  years  the  increase  was  at  an  average  rate  of  7  per 
cent,  per  annum.  Had  there  been  during  the  latter  period  an  average 
increase  of  20  per  cent.,  the  appropriation  for  1890  would  have  exceeded 
the  amount  now  asked  for.  What  is  proposed  by  the  Indian  Office  now 
is  to  carry  forward  the  work  in  the  line  of  its  historical  development. 
The  amount  asked  for  for  next  year  can  all  be  used  to  good  advantage 
without  extravagance  in  enlarging  and  more  fully  equipping  schools 
already  in  successful  operation,  and  in  planting  others  where  there  is 
urgent  demand  for  them. 

Full  reports  of  each  agency  of  the  present  condition  and  needs  of 
the  school  are  being  received  and  carefully  tabulated  ;  plans  of  build- 
ings are  being  'prepared,  and  sites  selected,  and  everything  will  be  in 
readiness,  as  soon  as  the  money  asked  for  is  placed  at  the  control  of 
the  Indian  Office,  to  move  forward  at  every  point  intelligently  and 
conservatively. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  nothing  radically  new,  nothing  experi- 
mental nor  theoretical,  and  that  the  present  plans  of  the  Indian  Office 
contemplate  only  the  putting  into  more  systematic  and  organic  form, 
and  pressing  with  more  vigor  the  work  in  which  the  Government  has 
been  earnestly  engaged  for  the  past  thirteen  years,  with  a  view  of 
carrying  forward  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  its  final  consummation  that 
scheme  of  public  education  which  during  these  years  has  been  gradu- 
ally unfolding  itself. 

That  the  time  is  fully  ripe  for  this  advanced  movement  must  be  evi- 
dent to  every  intelligent  observer  of  the  trend  of  events  connected  with 
the  condition  of  the  Indians.  Practically  all  the  land  in  this  vast  re- 
gion known  as  the  United  States,  from  ocean  to  ocean  again,  has  now 
been  organized  into  States  or  Territories.  The  Indian  populations  are 
surrounded  everywhere  by  white  populations,  and  are  destined  inevi- 
tably, at  no  distant  day,  either  to  be  overpowered  or  to  be  assimilated 
into  the  national  life.  The  most  feasible,  and  indeed  it  seems  not  too 
strong  to  say  the  only,  means  by  which  they  can  be  prepared  for  Ameri- 
can citizenship  and  assimilation  into  the  national  life  is  through  the 
agency  of  some  such  scheme  of  public  education  as  that  which  has  been 
outlined,  and  upon  which  the  Government,  through  the  Indian  Office^ 
is  busily  at  work.  The  welfare  of  the  Indians,  the  peace  and  prosperity 
of  the  white  people,  and  the  honor  of  the  nation  are  all  at  stake,  and 
ought  to  constrain  every  lover  of  justice,  every  patriot,  and  every  phi- 
lanthropist, to  join  in  promoting  any  worthy  plan  that  will  reach  the 
desired  end. 

This  great  nation,  strong,  wealthy,  aggressive,  can  signalize  its  spirit 
of  fairness,  justice,  and  philanthropy  in  no  better  way,  perhaps,  than 


28 

by  making  ample  provision  for  the  complete  education  and  absorption 
into  the  national  life  of  those  who  for  more  than  one  hundred  years  tyave 
been  among  us  but  not  of  us.  Where  in  human  history  has  there  been 
a  brighter  example  of  the  humane  and  just  spirit  which  ought  to  charac- 
terize the  actions  of  a  Christian  nation  superior  in  numbers,  intelligence, 
riches,  and  power,  in  dealing  .with  those  whom  it  might  easily  crush, 
but  whom  it  is  far  nobler  to  adopt  as  a  part  of  its  great  family  I 


